Sydney on hold for Rondinella

[Chief Stipe]

Exciting four-year-old Rondinella will not head to Sydney to take her place in the Gr. 1 Ranvet Stakes on Saturday, but a trip across the Tasman still remains on the cards for the Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained mare.

“She’s not heading to Sydney this weekend, but we certainly still have some hope that she will get over there,” Wellwood said. “There are two main options, there’s the BMW or the Chairman’s.”

The Gr. 1 BMW is at Rosehill on March 30, while the Gr. 2 Chairman’s Quality will be run at Randwick on April 6.

The daughter of Ocean Park put in a bold showing at her last start, finishing third behind Melody Belle and Danzdanzdance in the Gr. 1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie.

“I thought it was a really good run from her,” he said. “The track definitely didn’t suit her and the two mares who beat her are proven on heavy surfaces.

“She got inconvenienced at about the 500-metre mark and when she finally got balanced up she started making up ground on two of the benchmark horses in New Zealand, so I thought it was a super run that had a lot of merit.”

Rondinella has had seven starts this preparation, which included three wins and a second in the Listed Kaimai Stakes as well as her last start placing. Wellwood said the decision was made not to head over this week to avoid running her on an unsuitable surface so late in her campaign.

“She’s come through the Bonecrusher really well,” Wellwood said. “She’s coming through her runs extremely well now.

“In saying that, she has had a fair bit of racing in a short period of time and to give her another race on a surface that doesn’t suit her just wasn’t ideal this weekend and the rain doesn’t look like it’s going to stop in Sydney.”

Meanwhile, stablemate Hanger could head towards the Gr. 2 Manco Easter Handicap at Ellerslie on April 20 after his solid second at Tauranga on Saturday.

“It was a good performance. Unfortunately the winner got a bit of a kick on the turn and by the time he got out it proved very hard to reel them in at Tauranga,” Wellwood said.

“I thought it was really good to see him relax and race kindly because sometimes he can do things a little bit wrong. We are undecided yet as to where we will head with him, but the Easter is on the radar.”

View the full article